lowimpacthome.org

Yesterday, Al Gore spoke to a group in Washington in which he calls for the United States to be generating all electricity from carbon free sources within 10 years.

I applaud his thinking but is it something that we can really do?

He believes that if we put for the effort that put us on the Moon only 8 years after Kennedy set that goal, we can also have all our homes powered by carbon free fuel.

He also points out that we are having to borrow money from China to feed our oil habit, a dangerous thing to do especially when it comes to issues of the planet.

Is it really possible to change our collective thinking in that short of time?  Can we go from oil hungry to carbon neutral before my youngest child graduates from High School?  Are the citizens of the US ready for a change that abrupt?  I believe with the current status of our economy and the glooming oil crisis, the answer is Yes.

Now it’s not just because I’m a tree hugging, Earth Day celebrating, green power buying eco-geek.  It’s because I believe that if we were to pull together on this we could change the economic and environmental crisis of this country. I also believe in this Country’s ability to effect change on the worlds stage, what a precedent this would set!

It’s not ok that we are having to borrow money from other countries so that we can buy oil to keep up with the demand.  It’s really not ok that we depend so much on OPEC that they can yank us around, mess with our livelihoods and help in the downturn of our economy.

We must come together and have our collective voices heard.  Take the time to really consider what your Public Official’s policies on the Environment and research if they actually vote that way.  It will take a Congress and President that see eye to eye on this issue to enact this kind of change.  Are you helping or hindering the process by voting for people that don’t have the same values as you?  Let your voice be heard now…don’t wait until November.  Speak to your neighbors and co-workers about issues like these.  It’s only in coming together in one voice that change this big will happen.

We owe it to our children.  Let’s not make them clean up the mess that we created.

Over the past few weeks, I have been contemplating over what to say next.  I have been very concerned about the economy, the state of America and what it is doing to my family and others that I know.

But it all came to me yesterday morning…

My husband and a band that he belongs to ( The New Memphis Hepcats) were scheduled to perform on a local daily news program, so I had the tv at work tuned to something besides the Golf Channel.  Well the President preempted the program, but I left it on since I was curious as to what he had to say.  Now let me “preempt” this by saying I voted for George Bush…2 times.  I am ashamed by this. You know what they say…”Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.” I haven’t decided whom I am voting for in the next election but I assure you, my decision will be well researched and thought out. 

So, I believe that I have the right to complain, I put my trust in him and he let me down.

As I listened I was appalled as to what he had to say.  What I heard was a bunch of, “I told you so’s” and “its all congress’s fault”. 

I started a project where I would compare prices and the cost of gas between my local grocery store and the granola store.  Well I haven’t been able to finish the project because every drop of my gas is precious and I can’t (even for science sake) to use any more then what is needed.  Now I know that I could offset that travel by riding my bike to work, but when it’s 95 degrees with a 85% relative humidity, riding is a tad bit uncomfortable. 

But I say all this to get to my point…with the rising costs of gas and food, it’s not time to play the blame game, it’s time to fix the problem before middle-class families like mine can’t afford to by the simplest necessities. Not to say that the problems of the poor are not important, but 9 times out of 10 they can apply for some type of governmental assistance (that’s not the answer either), families like mine don’t qualify for programs like that and we are starting to suffer. 

I don’t mean to sound ugly, but now is the time to forget politics, forget about suffering in other countries and focus on America’s recovery and may I say that offshore oil drilling is not the answer.  I agree wholeheartedly that buying 70% of our oil from foreign companies is ridiculas and we need to do something about it, I don’t think that potentially ruining more of the ocean is the right thing to do.  The President doesn’t agree with me on this.  However, I agree with the principle of why he wants to do it.  The less we need, the lower the price.  But what about spending that same money on more eco-friendly or earth friendly fuel production.  I say that then say “No more corn ethanol” that is not what we need, save the corn for the growing food crisis.  Now other forms of ethanol are good to research but NO MORE CORN. 

Speaking of which, my favorite gas station that is connected to my grocery store, that consequently gives me a discount on my gas when I buy their groceries, has gone to putting corn ethanol in their gas.  That makes me sad, especially when they are not cheaper then any of the surrounding gas stations.

Now especially is the time to write to your Congress person and voice your concern.  Don’t sit idly by as things get worse.  Take a stand and let them know that what is going on is not ok and you won’t stand for it.  Give them reasons to support eco-friendly research like wind, and solar power.  you voted for them, make them hear you.

With the release of my two websites GreenerMemphis and Low Impact Home, I have been giddy with excitement but cautious.  You see the “red” side of my family doesn’t know about the “green” me. I am pretty sure that if they found out I would be written out of the will due to my “liberal thinking”.  Now, you and I know that you don’t have to be a Democrat to think green but if the puny 220 words that President Bush had to say about the environment during his State of the Union speech shows the interest that most Republicans have, then I can see why people think that. 

The fact is, my father is a staunch Republican and beyond the manditory recycling in his neighborhood, I am pretty sure he doesn’t think much about saving the earth.  Now don’t get me wrong, he does drive a hybrid but I think that is in response to the rising gas prices and not to the rising  CO2 emissions.  I do have to say that he might be the most open one about my “green” ethics and my mother would be the one to give me the most stink about it.  My father has always been more open minded about things then my mother, in fact just the other day she made a crack about a well known blog that I follow because they are liberal-minded.  Do I really need to tell them or should I just cancel out their vote at election time?

Also I live in the Bible Belt and we don’t talk about the environment in Church.  I really don’t know why, you see I believe that God created the Universe (watches as my bounce rate jumps).  Now I still have questions as to how it occured, whether or not it took 7 days or 7 million years remains to be seen, but I still believe that it didn’t happen on accident.  I have seen God in nature to many times to ignore Him.  I remember sitting on a mountian top looking out over the tops of millions of trees and feeling a presence in the wind as it came from behind me.  Reassurance of His presence swept over me as I sat there beholding the beauty of creation.  So if God created the universe and all of it’s beings why are we not worried about taking care of it?  It’s a question that I have often asked and is one of the reasons I can’t find a Church to join.  

Eventhough I have just become vocal about my ”green” beliefs, it doesn’t mean I haven’t had them for a long time.  Ever since I could remember I was concerned for the planet, but sadly I was not equipt to do anything about it.  Since I was raised in a home that never spoke about it and since the Church and school that I went to said nothing about it, I guess I didn’t realize that it was as bad as it is.  Shot! It’s hard enough as an adult to get the word out, think about what it would have taken as a child in the Generation of Excess that was the 80’s. 

But now that I have children and see that in only a few short years things that I have always taken for granted will be gone and not around for them to see, I can’t sit around and do nothing.  Forget the fact that I am literally 1 in a Million, who have green views, in my city.  We need to act now not later, we need to instill green values in our children so their children will have something beautiful left to discover.   Stop making this a polical issue and make the environment a people issue instead.